January/February 2001

CNHS Awarded $500,000 Grant By Patty Snellings The College of Nursing and Health Science (CNHS) received a grant to expand an asthma education and prevention project for underserved children in elementary schools and Head Start programs in Northern Virginia. The three-year, $500,000 grant was awarded by the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Asthma is the number one chronic illness among young children,” says Georgine Redmond, project director and member of the CNHS faculty. “The funding will help us expand a limited program that has been under way for two years.” Redmond explains that she started the asthma education project two years ago with CNHS colleague Christena Langley, who also helped her write the funding proposal to HRSA. The scope of the initial program and the number of children served were limited because of inadequate funds. The HRSA grant, however, will provide funds for educational materials for the children and their families, community resources guides, a web site, and staffing for the program, as well as opportunities to form additional partnerships with other community agencies. The project’s main goals are to improve the children’s health and quality of life by decreasing hospitalization and emergency room visits for acute asthma attacks by 25 percent and to help the children be better students through fewer absences from school. The project also offers George Mason’s undergraduate nursing students the opportunity to explore community health issues and develop the skills necessary to provide quality primary care as part of a culturally competent work force. The students identify children in the community who suffer from asthma and work with them and their families to develop a program of coordinated care through home visits and environmental assessments. In collaboration with the Fairfax County Health Department and Inova Pediatrics, the students seek services from primary care physicians, attempt to secure state health insurance programs for eligible children, and work with pharmaceutical companies to provide medication and medical supplies. Over the three-year period, approximately 5,420 clients (children and their families) will be served by 216 undergraduate nursing students, according to Redmond. “This asthma education project is an integral part of the university’s community-based curriculum for undergraduate nursing education,” explains Redmond. “It is a nice marriage between education and the community.”